Buy Mounjaro: the legal route in the Netherlands

The legal route in 4 steps: doctor, prescription, registered pharmacy, home

Buying Mounjaro legally always follows the same four steps. It does not matter whether you start with your GP or with an online clinic: without these steps there is no legal prescription.

1. Assessment by a doctor. The doctor looks at your BMI, your health, your medication and any contraindications, such as a previous inflammation of the pancreas or a wish to become pregnant. The doctor assesses whether medical weight loss is right for you.
2. The prescription. If it is, the doctor writes a prescription for the starting dose of 2.5 mg per week. You only get a higher dose after a number of weeks, in consultation.
3. Supply by a registered Dutch pharmacy. The pharmacy checks the prescription and supplies the KwikPen. With an online clinic, this is usually delivered to your home.
4. Support during use. The doctor monitors how you respond, adjusts the dose and can be reached if you have side effects. This part is missing with a prescription on its own.

With us, this programme runs through your own BIG-registered doctor (the BIG register is the Dutch register of healthcare professionals). How that works is explained on the page about medical weight loss with injections.

Can your GP prescribe Mounjaro?

Yes, a GP (huisarts) may prescribe Mounjaro. Whether your GP actually does so depends on your situation and on the policy of the practice. In type 2 diabetes, Mounjaro is a regular treatment option. For overweight without diabetes, GPs are often reluctant, because the guideline of the Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap (NHG, the Dutch College of General Practitioners) only gives medication a place after a lifestyle programme.

In practice, this means that if you ask your GP for Mounjaro to lose weight, you will regularly hear no, or be referred to a combined lifestyle intervention (gecombineerde leefstijlinterventie). What your GP can and cannot do is covered in our article on whether your GP can prescribe weight loss injections.

An online clinic with its own doctors is the other legal route. There too, a doctor first assesses whether medical weight loss is right for you, and the prescription goes to a registered Dutch pharmacy.

What does Mounjaro cost at the pharmacy?

At the pharmacy, Mounjaro costs between about €177 and €419 per KwikPen, depending on the strength. One KwikPen contains four weekly doses and therefore lasts about a month. The amounts below come from the cost overview in the Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas (the Dutch national medicines reference) of Zorginstituut Nederland (the Dutch National Health Care Institute), reference date 22 September 2026, including VAT and excluding the pharmacy's dispensing fee.

The pharmacy also charges a dispensing fee (terhandstellingskosten). Prices may change in the meantime; the current price is on medicijnkosten.nl.

Which strength you eventually use is decided by the doctor, based on your response and any side effects. Not everyone needs the highest strength. The dosing schedule is in our article on Mounjaro dosage, and the full monthly cost picture in the article on the Mounjaro price.

With a supervised programme, you pay not only for the medication but also for the support from a doctor. With us, a programme with tirzepatide (Mounjaro) costs €350 per month, plus a one-off €400 support fee. That includes the medication, home delivery through a registered pharmacy and follow-up by your own doctor.

Tried everything and ready for an approach with a doctor? In a few minutes you will know whether medical weight loss could suit your situation; the doctor then assesses your application. Eligibility check →

Is Mounjaro covered by insurance?

If you use Mounjaro to lose weight, basic health insurance (basisverzekering) does not currently cover the medicine. You pay the costs yourself. In type 2 diabetes, Mounjaro can be reimbursed under certain conditions; your doctor knows those conditions.

So the fact that the EMA has approved Mounjaro for weight management does not mean that your health insurer pays for it in that situation. The conditions, the role of your GP and the current status are covered in our article on whether Mounjaro is covered by insurance.

Ordering Mounjaro needles and the KwikPen

Needles are not included in the Mounjaro KwikPen pack. You use separate pen needles, which you buy at the pharmacy; the doctor often puts them on the same prescription. You use a new needle for every injection.

You do not order the KwikPen itself separately: you get it from the pharmacy on prescription, as part of the steps above. According to apotheek.nl, the patient information website of the Dutch pharmacists' organisation KNMP, you inject tirzepatide once a week under the skin of your abdomen, thigh or upper arm, and the liquid should be clear and colourless.

How to set up the pen, inject and store it is explained step by step in our article on the Mounjaro pen.

How to recognise unreliable offers

You recognise an unreliable offer by one feature: there is no doctor and no registered pharmacy involved. In September 2025, the IGJ and the CBG (the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate and the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board) warned that the illegal online supply of medicines is growing, with obesity and diabetes medication at the forefront. In 2024, about 200 reports came in, double the number of the year before.

Watch out for these signs:

• "Tirzepatide" as a peptide or research product. This is not Mounjaro. It is an unregistered substance without any checks on purity, dose or sterility.
• Sales without a prescription, or a "prescription" based only on a completed form without assessment by a doctor.
• Offers via Marktplaats, Reddit, Telegram or social media. Counterfeit injection pens have already been intercepted in Europe.
• Foreign web shops that ship to the Netherlands without a Dutch pharmacy.
• Chemists (drogisterijen). Kruidvat and other chemists do not sell prescription medicines; "tirzepatide at Kruidvat" does not exist.

Check an online seller on aanbiedersmedicijnen.nl, the official register of authorised sellers. If a seller is not listed there, do not buy anything from them. For prescription medicines, the advice of the IGJ and CBG is simple: go to a doctor and a pharmacist.

Is there a cheaper alternative to Mounjaro?

Yes, there are cheaper medicines, but which medicine suits you is a medical decision, not a question of price. Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and liraglutide (Saxenda) are also prescription GLP-1 medicines. They work through a similar mechanism, but differ in action, dosing frequency and side effects.

With us, the monthly price of a programme depends on the medication: €250 with semaglutide (Ozempic), €350 with tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and €850 with liraglutide (Saxenda), plus a one-off €400 support fee. Which medicine the doctor proposes follows from your health, your goal and how you respond to the medication. How the legal route works for semaglutide is covered in the article on how to buy Ozempic.

What is not an alternative: "cheap tirzepatide" from a peptide web shop. That is not a cheaper version of the same medicine, but an unregistered product without a prescription.

Want to know which medicine suits you? During the consultation, the doctor assesses whether medical weight loss is right for you and which medication goes with it. Medical weight loss with injections →

Frequently asked questions about buying Mounjaro

Is Mounjaro available over the counter?

No. Mounjaro is a prescription-only medicine and is only available on a doctor's prescription, through a registered pharmacy. Sellers who sell it without a prescription are acting illegally.

Can a GP prescribe Mounjaro?

Yes, a GP may prescribe Mounjaro. In type 2 diabetes this happens regularly; for overweight without diabetes, GPs are reluctant and often refer you to a lifestyle programme first. An online clinic with its own doctors is the other legal route.

How much does Mounjaro cost?

At the pharmacy, a Mounjaro KwikPen with four weekly doses costs €176.57 (2.5 mg) to €419.46 (12.5 and 15 mg), excluding the dispensing fee (Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas, 22 September 2026). With us, a supervised programme with tirzepatide (Mounjaro) costs €350 per month, plus a one-off €400 support fee.

Where can I order Mounjaro needles?

You buy pen needles at the pharmacy; they are not included in the KwikPen pack. The doctor often puts the needles on the same prescription as the pen. Use a new needle for every injection.

What is a cheap alternative to Mounjaro?

Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and liraglutide (Saxenda) are other prescription GLP-1 medicines, with a lower pharmacy price per month. Which medicine suits you is assessed by the doctor. "Cheap tirzepatide" from a peptide web shop is not an alternative but an illegal, unregistered offer.

How do I get tirzepatide?

Tirzepatide is the active substance of Mounjaro and in the Netherlands is only available as a licensed medicine on prescription. The route is: assessment by a doctor, prescription, supply by a registered pharmacy. Loose tirzepatide sold as a peptide is not a medicine and may not be sold.

<!-- klant:eind -->